Their musical collaboration began in 2009 yet individually, they go back years before that. Indeed, Minister’s partner-in-crime Dr. NO (Cubist) has released on some reputable UK labels and has now hooked up with Scotty to really drop the bass. And now, the boys bring everything together to create their new swag.
“I got started at about 16 years old,” explains Scotty. “I was part of a small crew and we made a bit of a name for ourselves. We were getting out there with our music around 2005, which was about four years after we’d been established in England. By then we’d also made some good contacts in Australia with guys like Flagrant and as a result, we did a little tour out here as well. From there, some of us stayed in Australia and some members were back in England.”
But things have changed now – it’s onwards and upwards without looking back. Only the benefit of hindsight remains. And Scotty continues: “the thing with Dr. NO was that he was part of a local crew; we got to know Eden through the local Wobble nights and we realised that he had the same insights into music as us. We understood the way our music worked and he had the same idea. We started on the Dr. NO + Minster project and decided we’d see what we were doing – and we did pretty well out of it. It got to a point where we thought we’ve got something quite nice that we’re happy with. The next thing we knew we wanted to do was get into the studio – and things there have been going well for two years.”
“Writing songs in the studio, you have to watch things as they happen around you; it took us a while to find our feet but working with Eden, the way he puts a tune together, someone might record a vocal a sample or a beat and we go from there. Now that we’ve worked out the best way for us to work, things are getting there! The way we see it, music genres are coming full circle. I love drum and bass; I was into it at the beginning and then, it was one of those things that we got into because we could basically just enjoy it and chill out to it. Then it moved into drum and bass and became a bit more banging; and then it was mixed with dub and hip hop and then really became mad! For me, there are only two types of music. Good music and bad music; I’ve grown up in the carnival type of environment because my uncle was the carnival king of Reading in England where I’m from! Believe that.”
So as a result of that and no doubt various other influences, the guys wanted to do the same with a club night. “We wanted to get the vibe massive, so what we’ve done here is just married music to different genres,” chimes Scotty. “We said that 140 beats per minute was going to be our restraint so as long as things fit into that square, it works. The Wobble nights are usually pretty big but we also wanted to ensure they were accessible. It’s the same reason people listen to hip hop – we keep it gritty and it’s got to be something you can move to.”
Finally, the crew is getting together to down a few brews and enjoy the night out, Wobble style. Scotty wraps up with this: “we’ve got our launch party this month which we’re all pretty excited about; I think it’s on the 21st July down at Wobble. All of us will be playing the tunes from the EP. There are five tracks in total of which four are completely new and original – unplayed! We’ll still throw some things in that we’re feeling and if it fits, we’ll give it a run. As long as a beat or a track is ok, I can spit a verse over it. Should be good.”
Truer, more modest words never spoken.
RK
